Big companies use their strong bargaining power to make profits that are 'out of whack with what is happening to everyone else' all the time, and no-one bats an eyelid.
Partly true, but this is usually because the big companies normally get rich by providing something that lots of people want. (e.g. Tesco may be big and horrible, closing high streets, making huge profits and avoiding tax but it turns out that people do actually want cheap and available crappy food)
And when they abuse this power people tend to either exert political pressure (see windfall taxes on the banks and oil companies) or vote with their wallets.
We have options, we may not choose to use them, but they exist.
But when providers of a essential service strike we are stuck, we have no option but to become collateral damage in their games.
I've just had an email from toolshop direct telling me about their fantastic range of Jerry Cans.....They're on the ball
The unions actions ultimatley lead to their their own downfall - in a dispute between employer and employee, the threat to hold the public to ransom is the nuclear button.
we saw it in '79 - people were sick of being held to ransom, the unions had no interest in the wellbeing of the public, it was, as always, 'I'm alright Jack' and since then the public, who have to run lives and hold down their own jobs without being able to blackmail the rest of us, have run a mile from the unions, and the left in general.
Thing is, there's also a level of human nature in it - the Tories have proved that if you treat the Sheeple like adults and say "This is the situation, there's a threat to strike, use some common sense, act normally but and fill up when you get the chance" then the arseholes of the world descend into chaos.
woman has suffered 40% burns in york transfering fuel in her kitchen
will Francis maude get sacked now ?
[i]DezB: do you have any unemployed teenagers locally you would trust with your car ? Send them to queue, for an hourly rate. Get them to wash it too.[/i]
*scratches chin*
Seriously considering...
woman has suffered 40% burns in york transfering fuel in her kitchenwill Francis maude get sacked now ?
I must have missed the bit where he recommended decanting petrol in your kitchen with the cooker on.
A fire service spokesman said: "Her daughter asked her mum for petrol because she had run out. The cooker was on and the fumes ignited."
From the BBC website about the poor lady that set herself alight. Why would you think about transferring petrol with a cooker that was on
I've just had an email from toolshop direct telling me about their fantastic range of Jerry Cans.....They're on the ball
When will they be delivered? 😆
it was, as always, 'I'm alright Jack'
You've got a bit confused, that's the mantra of the Tories not the unions. HTH.
Extra fuel duty collected on Wednesday alone………… £32m
A few people have mentioned this but (unless people really are stockpiling jerry cans full of fuel) it's not really "extra" fuel duty is it?
It's just being collected slightly earlier than usual and will be followed by a bit of a dip.
If anything the overall fuel duty collected should go down as people decide to drive more conservatively to preserve fuel.
No, you're absolutley right - this is clearly a dispute about health and safety
[i]'The management is wilfully jeropardizing the safety of it's employees'[/i]
It's just being collected slightly earlier than usual and will be followed by a bit of a dip.
Well, just before the end of the financial year so this years figures don't look quite so disastrous? Not sure I buy this part of the conspiracy theory tbh.
It's just being collected slightly earlier than usual and will be followed by a bit of a dip.
Yeah - but it's also been mentioned that the dip will appear in next quarter's figures...
From the BBC website about the poor lady that set herself alight. Why would you think about transferring petrol with a cooker that was on
Probably some folk fully understand the volatile nature of petrol the liquid but don't understand just how dangerous the vapour is.
As I noted earlier- I wouldn't take a petrol/petrol filled container anywhere near my property. To have it inside your house and be pouring etc?
Vapour- the ****ing smell alone. Jesus wept.
This government is screwed up, it knows the public can't be trusted to look after themselves so they bang more tax on pasties booze and fags but then say "panic buy and keep loads volatile fuel in your home".Just been on the news some poor woman set herself on fire while transferring petrol between containers in her kitchen
*ing *tards
TBH the woman is probably a walking timebomb to herself.
Theres probably NO risk re mobiles etc on forecourts but I was watching one girl holding the mobile in one hand chatting whilst bending over filling up with......a big mobile/crossed out symbol behind her on the pump.
This is the Self-obsessed, selfish, celebrity culture that we are moving towards.
She should sue someone.
That's what the people that natural selection can no longer kill do isn't it.
Bet it's a slow day for petrol station employees. They'll just be selling jerry cans and rizlas because there's no fuel left round here.
From the BBC website about the poor lady that set herself alight. Why would you think about transferring petrol with a cooker that was on
Horribly tragic accident. Must have been utterly terrifying.
Stupidity of the highest order though, splashing petrol around indoors, especially a kitchen with the oven on ...
Theres probably NO risk re mobiles etc on forecourts
Agreed. I strongly suspect that the main reason for the ban is to ensure people pay attention whilst they're pumping fuel. Give many people a phone and they can't walk in a straight line, never mind pour volatile liquids.
Same with bans in hospitals and aeroplanes. It's not that they'll affect equipment, it's that people on phones are a bloody nuisance.
Theres probably NO risk re mobiles etc on forecourts
I've been told off, via the forecourt tannoy, for using my mobile whilst sat inside the car while the missus was in paying.
Somehow I think the risk was just a little overstated. 😯
This is the Self-obsessed, selfish, ... culture that we are moving towards
Moving towards? Why the future tense?
We're already there aren't we?
I'd say we've been there for quite a while too ...
Yes, I mean current and future generations of children. The instant now/gratification culture where they see idiots getting rich from not having any skill but having fake tits or 'doing someone' etc...
I've been told off, via the forecourt tannoy, for using my mobile whilst sat inside the car while the missus was in paying.
It was on mythbusters. I think they had a mobile phone in a container full of Petrol vapour and Oxygen at exactly the right ratio to cause an explosion and nothing happened at all.
Theres probably NO risk re mobiles etc on forecourts
I've been told off, via the forecourt tannoy, for using my mobile whilst sat inside the car while the missus was in paying.Somehow I think the risk was just a little overstated.
Didn't one of those daft science programmes hosted by Richard Hammond do a test where they doused the interior of a caravan in petrol etc and then called a load of mobile phones they'd left inside ... unsurprisingly, nothing exploded
EDIT : beaten to it ^
It was on mythbusters. I think they had a mobile phone in a container full of Petrol vapour and Oxygen at exactly the right ratio to cause an explosion and nothing happened at all.
Yep.
If it was really that risky then they'd need to make you switch off your mobile completely before even entering the forecourt.
And you'd have to push your car in too. With the radio off. Wearing anti-static shoes.
Theres probably NO risk re mobiles etc on forecourts
http://atexphones.com/Ecom_Xcom_200-Ex.php
That will be how my work spends about £600 buying one of these to use in the refinery.
When I worked at a petrol station, we were told that the risk wasn't from the signal or owt, but the risk that
a)someone might drop their mobile on the forecourt and the battery might fall out and spark.
b)if the person is filling up and on the phone, they might not be concentrating and end up spilling fuel everywhere.
That will be how my work spends about £600 buying one of these to use in the refinery.
How do you think that thing works? Magic?
How do you think that thing works? Magic?
Its pretty much all double sealed (keyboard sealed, battery sealed and screwed in place etc) we would be able to use it in an emergency situation, gas leak etc
Oh look!Was it all for nothing...
Well they've not actually ruled out strikes have they? Anybody with any sense knew already that strikes were at least 7 days away - it's not the people with sense who are the problem.
As I noted earlier- I wouldn't take a petrol/petrol filled container anywhere near my property.
How do you mow the lawn then? With a Flymo?
Awful things.
Electric.
Coyote - Member
Oh look!Was it all for nothing...
Cool! So I won't have to queue? Or hire teenagers?
Electric
You're missing out on a world of noisy fun. Petrol powered chainsaws are great. And electric strimmers - also awful.
Although I must confess, I do use an electric mower (but I hate it).
Its pretty much all double sealed (keyboard sealed, battery sealed and screwed in place etc) we would be able to use it in an emergency situation, gas leak etc
Yep - But its still a mobile phone with a mobile phone signal. Which kind of proves the point that the forecourt ban on phones is nothing to do with them being phones.
Fuel strike??? WHAT fuel strike!?
[IMG] 
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mrs just phoned she's gone for petrol as she's running on empty, still queues everywhere and several garages closed, despite the fact that there's NO STRIKE!
Artificial fuel shortage, well done DC
I got up at just after 6am this morning to buy some fuel, only to find my nearest garage had closed for a refurb FFS. Decided then to wait until after the rush hour on my day off to find the queue at Sainsbury 1/4 mile long and 4 other garages with no fuel. Didn't need the damn fuel especially but I do now after wasting an hour driving around. ****ing Tory ****s
The people still queueing today probably don't listen or look at the news. It figures.
Hora - The people still queuing today probably have a coagulated mass of mushy peas between their ears
Didn't need the damn fuel especially
Dare I ask why you went out then?
With forecourts closing because of a lack of fuel, if one wanted to have the biggest impact, surely now would be the time to strike
when are the easter holidays starting? will there be more people than normal trying to fill up before making long journeys away with the kids/away from the kids?
With forecourts closing because of a lack of fuel, if one wanted to have the biggest impact, surely now would be the time to strike
Are you one of the ones who thinks they're likely to strike tomorrow?
I suppose its not great PR for the Union to deliberatey mess up the general public's holiday plans instead of any given commercial monday.
With forecourts and roads blocked by queues, no tankers can get through anyway.
Didn't need the damn fuel especially but I do now after wasting an hour driving around.
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Didn't need the damn fuel especially but I do now after wasting an hour driving around.
that is a fantastically amazing admission right there.
11 pages of talk about the subject, and you chip in with that. i presume you are related to the woman that set herself on fire yeh?
Is the fuel strike over now?
The tanker drivers probably won't need to strike now, due to all the extra overtime they're doing because of the panic buying. 😯
Is this the imaginary strike?
[url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17558294 ]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17558294[/url]
Didn't need the damn fuel especially but I do now after wasting an hour driving around.
*stands back and applauds loudly*
Thing is, there's also a level of human nature in it - the Tories have proved that if you treat the Sheeple like adults and say "This is the situation, there's a threat to strike, use some common sense, act normally but and fill up when you get the chance" then the arseholes of the world descend into chaos.
Sorry zulu, but I would credit any government responsible for running our country with enough intelligence to remember last time and instead turn to the fuel companies and the unions to be considerate in their negociations before creating this situation [b]two weeks[/b] before the time when there [b]may[/b] be a strike. I use the word 'creating' quite deliberately.
They KNOW people on the whole are sheeple-ish enough to do this because such a similar thing happened so recently, and so they have knowingly brought about the effects of a tanker strike without the tanker drivers even having to ballot, go on strike and miss a days pay. (slow clap) Profiteering with 7+ pence per litre rises helps no one but the fuel companies and their shareholders.
But what do I know, I do maybe 6k a year in a car and ride a bicycle to work. But even the right wing papers are merrily reporting this as another disaster, alongside quotes from AA etc spokespersons about how foolish the government have been in this.
Sorry but this still stinks to high heaven of:
1) 'manipulation' the April figures. (there just will be another story to distract for the next lot of figures, who cares about then?)
2) "FFS let's do anything to take the public's mind off the Peter Cruddas Story".
I wonder how this will all be remembered in a year's time?
aye no fuel round here - well not diesel would it have been better to panic rather than to take the sensible approach [ was it sensible now?]
Will need some on Monday
To make it even worse the greetings card delivery men are definitely going on strike in sympathy with the jewellery delivery men.
So anyone in the Epsom area can come and panic buy in my shop.
Thank you.
would it have been better to panic rather than to take the sensible approach [ was it sensible now?]
Will need some on Monday
You should be OK by then I'd have thought. The sensible thing in such a situation is to panic if you do actually need the fuel (and not panic if you don't). Clearly anybody who would need to fill up anyway and is stuck in a queue isn't actually an idiot.
Going back to our earlier discussion about phones on forecourts:
http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/society/angry-motorist-threatening-to-use-mobile-on-forecourt-201203305079/
aracer - Member
Are you one of the ones who thinks they're likely to strike tomorrow?
No, because i'm not an idiot.
Here you go. If your Manchester-based and this happens again just to pop down to here:
I'm assuming by Monday when I need the petrol all this fuss will have died down?
No queue at the Morrisons down the road, lonely woman in fluro vest hoping for traffic to direct. Now sorted for the next 2 weeks.
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I've been panic drinking tea all day at work as the milkman hasn't been and we're running very short of milk.
I filled up my car yesterday. Anyone want to swap a pint of milk for a pint of petrol?
😆
Ironically when I filled the bike this morning I popped in the gas station shop for Soy Milk, the fridge looked like locusts had been through and all I could get was blue top cows milk. Have the milk tanker drivers gone on stike in sympathy ??
Lets start that rumor anyway, just for a laff. See how long it takes to go viral, and some poor woman sets her cat on fire.
glitchy thread thingy ?
I've been panic drinking tea all day at work as the milkman hasn't been and we're running very short of milk.
I've filled up an entire cow with petrol neatly solving both issues at a stroke.
Coyote - MemberOh look!
Was it all for nothing...
Well no. Yes, it was a stupid, crass, and unnecessary, but it was also a deliberate political stunt which those responsible for appear to be rather pleased with the results.
[b][i]"But Maude will claim that his strategy of intensifying pressure on the Unite union, which is threatening to hold a fuel tanker strike by 23 April, will have paid off if industrial action is averted.
There were signs last night that talks between Unite and the employers, under the auspices of the conciliation service Acas, could begin on Monday."[/b][/i]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/mar/29/francis-maude-panic-buying-petrol?newsfeed=true
So you cause chaos by alarming people of a possible union strike a couple of weeks ahead, people panic, buy fuel unnecessarily, which causes shortages, and then people like PeterPoddy dutifully work themselves up into a frenzy of indignation and denounce the unions. The unions are taken aback by the public reaction, and if it all goes according to script, become somewhat more amiable to the demands of the employers.
Job done. And altogether a worthwhile exercise (plus of course it keeps embarrassing headlines concerning granny taxes, pasty taxes, tax breaks for the super-rich, and NHS privatisation, off the front pages, but that's surely just a happy coincidence)
Except of course for the staggering irony of it all. Ministers have through their actions deliberately created a shortage of fuel which has caused chaos, purely to satisfy their own agenda and achieve their aims - the very thing which they have denounced and vilify the unions for attempting to do.
In other words, "it is morally justified for us to cause fuel shortages and chaos, just as long as we achieve what we want to achieve, but trade unions must never be allowed to use those same identical tactics, to achieve their aims". Breathtaking hypocrisy which complete flies over the heads of the hopelessly gullible and naive.
And if anyone doubts that this was a deliberate strategy to instill panic, then just look at Francis Maude's jerrycan suggestion. Hardly no one owns 20 litre jerrycans, quite a few people like myself own 5 litre petrol cans. Me filling up my 5 litre can is not a "sensible precaution" as suggested by Maude - it's a ****ing stupid precaution. Because if I ran out of fuel due to a tanker drivers strike, 5 ****ing litres ain't gonna ****ing help me.
So is Francis Maude, the Corpus Christi educated barrister, Minister for the Cabinet Office, and Paymaster General, just really really thick and stupid ? No of course he isn't, he knew damn well that urging people to fill up jerrycans would achieve nothing at all, other than cause concern and panic.
Plenty of fuel now on the wirral,just waiting for Morrisons to have a BUY ONE GET ONE FREE GALLON FREE OFFER,
The only thing you missed there ernie was the happy coincidence of getting some more receipts in the coffers this quarter/FY.
Except of course for the staggering irony of it all. Ministers have through their actions deliberately created a shortage of fuel which has caused chaos, purely to satisfy their own agenda and achieve their aims - the very thing which they have denounced and vilify the unions for attempting to do.
Much as I agree with that in general (and the rest of what you say), to be fair it's not quite the same, as those of us who don't need fuel until next week can just sit back and laugh at it all (apologies to anybody who does need fuel and is stuck in a queue - I'm not laughing at you).
Great post Ernie.
Imagine the resentment there will be if the papers really take hold of the angle of: "hey queueing/fighting motorists, it's the government's fault after all". Perhaps predictably, the Sun is already going for it. 😈
The only thing you missed there ernie was the happy coincidence of getting some more receipts in the coffers this quarter/FY.
Well no, they might be getting it earlier, but that's all - people won't be driving more/using more.
What I did miss, was the disastrous effect this ploy has had on the petrol retailers - because the post was already very long, I was tired, and wanted a coffee.
But don't blame them too much if they put up their forecourt prices - they stand to lose a lot of money as a result of this government's stunt.
Many of them have shops/supermarkets attached to them, so if they have to close because they have sold out of fuel then they will also lose profit from their shops. Also by the time they restock with fuel it is very likely that potential customers will be driving around with full tanks, again not just a drip in revenue from no fuel sales, but also from no shop sales. And staff will need to be paid. All in all a disaster for them. Hence they ain't too happy with Maude's big mouth.
not a queue tonight anywhere round here.
Pasty and pie sellers strikeing next week due to the imposition of the 20 p VAT on hot or above ambient temperature pies and pasties.
TBH Project there was no queue at Prenton Sainsburys garage yesterday @ 6pm yesterday, I was down to 20 miles in the tank so was surprised at the deserted roads and empty garage £90 later I have enough fuel for the next 3 weeks 🙂
Funny thing was the night before on our evening ride they were queuing for 1/4 mile @ the Shell garage near the Hinderton Arms, many people were also filling up to 6 cans in the boot 😮
What I did miss, was the disastrous effect this ploy has had on the petrol retailers
One station nearby had put it's prices up by about 2p since Monday. That's when I went this morning. Drove past again this evening and they have gone up by 1p per litre on both unleaded and diesel. Seems like the retailers are making the proverbial hay whilst the metaphorical sun is shining...
It's pretty self defeating. Supermarket store manager here was going to shut down the petrol station not because it was out of fuel, far from it, because the queues were preventing shoppers getting into the store. They don't make much profit, if anything, from selling petrol.
And now for utter madness: [url= http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/aa-accuses-drivers-of-stupid-fuel-actions-7603904.html ]Jam jars, Paint tins and Fairy liquid bottles[/url]
Just walked past two of my regular filling stations (this is in Blackpool, BTW) at about 10pm.
One is coned-off and closed to all except Emergency Services, while the other has a man in a fluoro jacket standing at the entrance, and only letting another vehicle onto the already-rammed forecourt when one has left.
😕
Ive been refusing to panic buy. Would have filled up tonight but not a drop to be had, I'll get (near) to work tomorrow, but I wont get home so fingers crossed theres a delivery.